Air-heating device for gas making apparatus.



A. H. BLACKBURN. AIR HEATING DEVICE FOR GA$ MAKING APPARATUS- APPLIGATIOI T FILED APR. 3. 1905.

' Patented June 8,1909.

m m M k r .....,A C C ammo? THE NORRIS PETERS cm, wasmlvcnm, 0, c,

ARTHUR HENRY BLACKBURN, OF MATTEAWAN, NEW YORK.

AIR-HEATING DEVICE FOR GAS MAKING- APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 3, 1905.

Patented June 8, 1909.

Serial No. 253,453.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR H. BLACK- BURN, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Matteawan, in the county of Dutchess and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Air-Heating Devices for Gas-Making Apparatus, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the drawings accompanying and forming part of the same.

The invention which forms the subject of my present application relates to apparatus for the manufacture of water-gas, in which the apparatus, consisting of generator, carbureter, and superheater, is fromitime to time re-heated by assing therethrough a current of air, which, y supplying oxygen to the fuel in the apparatus causes the same to burn and so raise the temperature of the apparatus.

The object of my invention is to eflect a saving of fuel by utilizing the waste heat of the apparatus to heat the air which is blown through the same. i

Where cold air is blown through the apparatus a considerable percentage of the heat developed by the combustion of the fuel is absorbed by the blast of cold air, which, having given up its oxygen, asses out of the superheater in a highly eated condition. The heat thus carried off has heretofore been entirely wasted. I therefore propose to pro vide a system of pi es or other conduits in the path of the hot blast from the gas apparatus, and through the said system pass the air which is to be delivered to the a paratus. By this arrangement a considerab e art of the heat of the blast is given u to t e airheating system, and is absorbe by the air circulating therethrough, which, it will be remembered, is now delivered to the gas apparatus for the pur ose of burning the fuel therein. The resu t is that, the air blast being highly heated instead of cold, it absorbs and carries away less of the heat produced by this consumption of fuel and hence a greater proportion of the heat generated is effective to heat the apparatus. This efl'ects a not inconsiderable saving of fuel.

My invention may be applied to practically any water gas plant, but in the accompanying drawings I have illustrated it applied to a plant of the well-known Lowe type.

In the drawing the figure shown is a side elevation, showing an air-heating system of a convenient form.

A, B, and 0 represent respectively, the

generator, carburetor, and superheater of a Lowe water gas plant. In the drawin s two sets of a paratus is shown, and it is to e understood that so far as my invention is concerned any number of sets may be used. Immediately above each superheater is arranged a flue, D, leading to a casing E, within which is located an air-heater of any construction suitable forthe ur ose. In the construction herein speci 'cal y shown, the air heater, indicated in each case by F, consists of a plurality of vertical pipes connected to suitable upper and lower headers, the whole being so constructed and arranged that the air to be heated will pass successively through the various pipes of the system, so as to be exposed for a considerable time to the hot gases with which the heater is surrounded. For the purpose of forcing air through the heater I provideany convenient form of blower, indicated by G, connected to the heater by a conduit H. The heated air is delivered from the heater through a conduit I,

to a distributing pipe J, from which eX-' tend branches leading to the generators, carbureters, and superheaters, as shown. It will also be seen that the flue D in each case delivers products of combustion to the same air-heater, F, though it is of course obvious that a separate heater may be provided for each set of apparatus if desired. Each flue D is also provided with a chimney, K, located immediately above and in line with the discharge-outlet, L, of the su erheater, and provided with a damper, M, diosing the lower end thereof, so that by turning the damper on its pivot communication with the heater-casing may be cut off and the products of combustion from the superheater will then be discharged through the chimney K directly into the air. After passing through the heater-casing the products of combustion are delivered to the stack, N, and thence pass out into the air.

The operation of the apparatus described above will now be readily understood. When it is desired to blow air through the apparatus for the purpose of raising the temperature, the superheater discharge outlet is opened and the blower, G, started. This drives the air through the heater, conduit I, and pipe, J, into the gas-making apparatus. The combustion of the fuel therein of course raises the various parts of the a paratus to a high temperature, and the pro nets of combustion issuing through the discharge outlet of the superheater, are also highly heated. Being received by the flues, these hot gases are delivered to the casing surrounding the air-heater, and give up a large part of their heat therein, thereby raising the temperature of the air which is passing through the heater to be later supplied to the apparatus. The result is that while the products of combustion thereafter may leave the apparatus at as high a temperature as before, yet they do not carry off as large a proportion of heat, since when delivered to the apparatus the air which furnished the oxygen for the combustion of the fuel was already in a highly heated state; or, stated otherwise, less fuel would be required to raise the apparatus to the desired temperature, since less of the heat of combustion will be taken up merely in heating the air introduced to support such combustion.

It will of course be understood that herein I have merely shown a convenient form of the apparatus constituting my invention, in a more or less diagrammatic way, preferring to leave the working out of mere details to the skilled engineer who undertakes to install the invention. I may state, however, that it is desirable, in order to utilize to the fullest extent the heat of the waste products of combustion, that the air-heating pipes should oxpose as large a superficial area as possible.

Having now described my invention what I claim is:

In a gas generating apparatus, the combination of a superheater, the latter having an duit arranged in said chamber, means for a forcing air therethrough, and a conduit lead ing therefrom to the generator.

ARTHUR HENRY BLA OKBURN.

Witnesses:

IRVING E. ORMSBEE, HOWARD C. DUFF. 

